Beyond Chiefdoms: Pathways to Complexity in Africa Edited by Susan Keech Mcintosh Frontmatter More Information

Cambridge University Press 052102269X - Beyond Chiefdoms: Pathways to Complexity in Africa Edited by Susan Keech McIntosh Frontmatter More information

Beyond Chiefdoms: Pathways to Complexity in Africa

Recent critiques of neo-evolutionary formulations that focus primarily on the development of powerful hierarchies have called for a broadening of the empirical base for complex society studies. Redressing the neglect of sub- Saharan examples in comparative discussions on complex society, this book considers how case material from the subcontinent can enhance our understanding of the nature, origins, and development of complexity. The archaeological, historical, and anthropological case materials are relevant to a number of recent concerns, reveal- ing how complexity has emerged and developed in a variety of ways. Contributors engage important theoreti- cal issues, including the continuing influence of deeply embedded evolutionary notions in archaeological con- cepts of complexity, the importance of alternative modes of complex organization – such as flexible hierarchies, multiple overlapping hierarchies, and horizontal differ- entiation – and the significance of different forms of power. The distinguished list of contributors includes historians, archaeologists, and anthropologists.

susan keech mcintosh is Professor of Anthropology at Rice University, USA. She has conducted archaeological research in Mali, Senegal, and Ghana, and is co- author of two monographs on Jenné-jeno, Mali, widely recognized as the earliest urban site documented in sub- Saharan Africa.

NEW DIRECTIONS IN ARCHAEOLOGY

Editors Françoise Audouze Centre de Recherches Archéologiques, Nanterre, France Cyprian Broodbank Institute of Archaeology, University College, London Tim Murray Department of Archaeology, La Trobe University, Victoria, Australia Colin Renfrew McDonald Institute of Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge Andrew Sherratt Department of Antiquities, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford Timothy Taylor Department of Archaeology, University of Bradford Norman Yoﬀee Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan Wendy Ashmore Department of Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania Nathan Schlanger Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge

Beyond Chiefdoms

Pathways to Complexity in Africa

Edited by SUSAN KEECH McINTOSH

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo

Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 2RU, UK

Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York

www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521630740

This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press.

First published 1999 This digitally printed first paperback version 2005

A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication data African perspectives on political complexity / edited by Susan Keech McIntosh p. cm. 1. Political anthropology – Africa. 2. Social archaeology – Africa. 3. Archaeology and state – Africa. 4. Africa – Politics and government. 5. Africa – Antiquities. I. McIntosh, Susan Keech. GN645.A367 1999 306.2´096–dc21 98-38081 CIP

ISBN-13 978-0-521-63074-0 hardback ISBN-10 0-521-63074-6 hardback

ISBN-13 978-0-521-02269-9 paperback ISBN-10 0-521-02269-X paperback

Contents

List of ﬁgures page vi 8 Wonderful society: the Burgess Shale 97 List of tables vii creatures, Mandara polities, and the nature List of contributors viii of prehistory Preface ix Nicholas David and Judy Sterner 9 Material culture and the dialectics of identity 110 1 Pathways to complexity: an African 1 in the Kalahari: AD 700–1700 perspective James Denbow Susan Keech McIntosh 10 Seeking and keeping power in Bunyoro- 124 2 The segmentary state and the ritual phase 31 Kitara, Uganda in political economy Peter Robertshaw Aidan Southall 11 The (in)visible roots of Bunyoro-Kitara and 136 3 Perceiving variability in time and space: 39 Buganda in the Lakes region: AD 800–1300 the evolutionary mapping of African David L. Schoenbrun societies Ann B. Stahl 12 The power of symbols and the symbols of 151 power through time: probing the Luba past 4 Western representations of urbanism and 56 Pierre de Maret invisible African towns Roderick J. Mcintosh 13 Pathways of political development in 166 equatorial Africa and neo-evolutionary theory 5 Modeling political organization in large- 66 Jan Vansina scale settlement clusters: a case study from the Inland Niger Delta Index 173 Susan Keech Mcintosh 6 Sacred centers and urbanization in West 80 Central Africa Raymond N. Asombang 7 Permutations in patrimonialism and 88 populism: the Aghem chiefdoms of Western Cameroon Igor Kopytoﬀ

Figures

1.1 Aﬁkpo village group. page 10 9.2 Plan map of the Kgaswe excavations. 112 1.2 Reconstruction of the Igbo Ukwu burial. 13 9.3 Proportions of wild and domestic fauna at 113 1.3 Reconstruction of ritual deposit at Igbo 14 some Kalahari sites. Ukwu. 9.4 Map of Bosutswe surface features. 115 5.1 The Inland Niger Delta of West Africa: the 67 9.5 Makgadikgadi ruins. 118 Jenné region. 9.6 Comparison of Tsodilo faunal assemblages. 120 5.2 The location of levees and 69 10.1 Western Uganda showing the location of 125 deep basins in the Inland Niger Delta. earthworks and other major sites. 5.3 Distribution of archaeological 72 10.2 The location of Cwezi shrines. 128 sites in reference to various landforms. 11.1 Map of the Great Lakes region showing 138 5.4 Rank-size distributions of archaeological 73 language groups mentioned in text and sites occupied in AD 1000 within 4 km of archaeological sites. Jenné-jeno and the present-day settlements 11.2 Great Lakes Bantu and its subgroups. 143 of the same area. 12.1 The Upemba Depression: archaeological 153 5.5 Settlement hierarchy in the maximal site 74 sites mentioned in the text. cluster around Jenné-jeno. 12.2 Archaeological sequence for the northern 154 6.1 Cameroon, showing location of Bafut. 81 Upemba Depression. 6.2 The neubah monolith at the nsani of the 83 12.3 Early Kisalian burial of a man with 156 Njibujang village. ceremonial axe and anvil, an iron machete, 6.3 The Takumbang shrine (ndere) in the dance 83 and copper jewelry. plaza outside the palace. 12.4 Ceramics from the northern Upemba 160 6.4 A fetish placed across the road to block 84 Depression, showing continuity and change witches and other evil spirits. through time. 8.1 a) Increase in overall diversity through time; 97 13.1 Equatorial Africa. 167 b) Contrasting increase and decrease in disparity and diversity through time. 8.2 The Mandara highlands and surrounding 100 plains, with larger towns and main ethno-linguistic groupings. 8.3 The northern Mandara highlands: larger 102 towns, ethno-linguistic groupings, and selected pre-colonial polities. 9.1 Sites mentioned in text. 111

Tables

1.1 Social stratification in Polynesia. page 5 1.2 Major elements of the dual processual 18 model. 5.1 Sequence of development at Jenné-jeno, 70 reconstructed from excavation 5.2 Possible range of population at Jenné-jeno 73 AD 800–1000. 8.1 Traditional dimensions of chiefly power in 105 Sirak, Mofu-Diamaré princedoms, and Sukur. 11.1 A semantogram for five terms for power 140 in Bantu. 11.2 A semantogram for five terms for social 142 organization and space in Bantu.

vii

Contributors

raymond asombang susan keech mcintosh Department of Arts and Archaeology Department of Anthropology University of Yaoundé Rice University Cameroon peter robertshaw nicholas david Department of Anthropology Department of Archaeology California State University, San Bernardino University of Calgary david schoenbrun judy sterner Department of History University of Calgary University of Georgia james denbow aidan southall Department of Anthropology Department of Anthropology University of Texas at Austin University of Wisconsin, Madison igor kopytoff ann b. stahl Department of Anthropology Department of Anthropology University of Pennsylvania State University of New York, Binghamton pierre de maret jan vansina Université Libre de Bruxelles Departments of Anthropology and History Belgium University of Wisconsin roderick mcintosh Department of Anthropology Rice University

viii

Preface

This book project had its origins in my own frustration at unlikely that any group of twelve authors could ade- the paucity of African models, African-inspired theories, quately represent the various regions of a subcontinent and African case studies in the archaeological literature two to three times larger than the contiguous United on the development of complexity. When Antonio States, let alone satisfy everyone’s wish list for gender, Gilman asked me to organize an archaeology session at national, ethnic, and disciplinary diversity among the the 1992 annual meeting of the American Anthro- contributors. In the end, it seemed enough to provide pological Association in San Francisco, I used the oppor- some sense of the variety of anthropological, historical, tunity to showcase what that continent has to offer to and archaeological case materials available for the study ongoing debates about the origin and nature of complex of complexity in Africa, selected with an eye to their res- societies. If archaeology was to live up to its claims to be onance with certain themes that have emerged in the a comparative discipline, it needed to take Africa, espe- recent archaeological literature. cially sub-Saharan Africa, seriously and systematically I am indebted to all the people who read part or all of into account. my introductory essay in preliminary or more advanced The papers at the invited session entitled “Inter- draft and provided useful, encouraging and/or cautionary mediate-level Societies in Africa: Archaeological and remarks: Nic David, Brian Fagan, Antonio Gilman, Anthropological Insights” ranged widely over the conti- Stephen Houston, Ben Nelson, Simon Ottenberg, nent and included presentations by anthropologists and Thurstan Shaw, Aidan Southall, and Ann Stahl. My debt historians as well as archaeologists. A number of the is particularly large to those stalwart individuals who read papers in this volume (those by Southall, S. McIntosh, through more than one draft version: Tim Earle, Igor Schoenbrun, Robertshaw, and Denbow) were originally Kopytoff, Rod McIntosh, Pete Robertshaw, David presented at this session. Igor Kopytoff was also sched- Schoenbrun, and Jan Vansina. Although I have not uled to participate, but circumstances prevented it. Fekri patched all the holes that they found, I am deeply grateful Hassan participated in the session, but in view of the for the collegiality, insightful comments and editorial sur- strongly sub-Saharan focus of the rest of the papers, it veillance. The chapter was significantly improved as a was decided to strengthen that focus for publication and result of their input. Thanks also go to Joe Tainter for exclude ancient Egypt – arguably the best-known African long and thought-provoking conversations about com- complex society. Subsequently, papers presented by Ann plexity along the road between Bandelier and Jemez as Stahl and Nic David at the Complex Society Group’s well as in Albuquerque. meeting in San Bernardino in October 1995 were added, Four people in particular encouraged me to move and additional papers solicited. Not all of the addition- ahead with publishing this collection: Ivan Karp (who ally solicited papers actually materialized, leaving the cov- suggested a more anthropological, rather than archaeo- erage of some themes and areas envisioned for inclusion logical, orientation for the volume, however); Ann Stahl, rather threadbare. But even in ideal circumstances, it is who uttered just the right words at a critical juncture in

xPreface

1994; Norman Yoffee, who encouraged me to take the as the other’s major source of support in the belief that project to Cambridge University Press; and Rod alternative models for complex social organization were McIntosh, who provided endless support and childcare necessary for archaeology to fulfill its promise as a com- while I wrestled with the introduction and editorial tasks. parative discipline. Africa’s role in this project would nec- I am grateful for their confidence in the project. My chil- essarily be a large one, we felt. But the time was not yet dren, Alex and Annick, graciously forbore my absences right. and preoccupation with “the book,” but have made it With the rise of interest in multiple sources of power quite clear that they don’t need another book project in (as the influence of Foucault gradually trickles into the my future any time soon! mainstream of archaeology) in the 1990s, a more recep- More than anything, the completion of this volume is tive climate for such ideas seems to be emerging. People a testimony to my long-time research collaboration with who work on complex societies far from the traditional my husband, Rod McIntosh, who first suggested almost areas (Maya, Peru, Europe, Polynesia, Mesopotamia) two decades ago that standard neo-evolutionary models that have historically dominated discussions on complex- for the development of complexity did not easily accom- ity now share a sense that archaeological discourse on modate the massive mound complex of Jenné-jeno, where complexity has expanded considerably to include a much we began fieldwork together in 1977. In the intervening greater range of variation in patterns and trajectories of years, as chiefdom studies were on the ascendant and complexity. There is a sense, articulated in the title of a hierarchy was on everyone’s lips, it seemed quixotic at session at the 1998 Society for American Archaeology times to continue to develop the idea that a settlement meeting in Seattle, that the discussion of non-hierarchical cluster on the scale of Jenné-jeno was not centrally orga- models of complexity need no longer be conducted in nized under a paramount chief. Isolated as we were in a whispers. Perhaps, then, the time is finally right for a book department with no other archaeologists, we each served such as this.